Thailand, Ready for Riot, Seizes $1.4 Billion from Thaksin

By

James Hookway And

Wilawan Watcharasakwet

Updated Feb. 27, 2010 12:01 a.m. ET

BANGKOK—The Thai government is considering whether to file new criminal charges against ousted leader Thaksin Shinawatra following the decision by the nation's Supreme Court to seize more than half of his family's $2.3 billion fortune.

On Saturday, the day after the court's ruling, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said the office of Thailand's attorney general will examine whether further cases can be pursued against Mr. Thaksin for allegedly damaging the interests of the state by directing policies favorable to his family businesses. A number of cases already are pending in civil courts.

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Pro-Thaksin 'red shirt' supporters cry on Friday in Bangkok as the Thai Supreme Court announces the verdict stripping former the prime minister's family of more than half its wealth.
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On Friday, the nine-member Supreme Court ruled that the fugitive politician abused his position to illegally expand his telecommunications business and said it will confiscate $1.4 billion in frozen family bank accounts. The ruling was read out over the course of several hours while some 20,000 riot police locked down parts of the Thai capital, a nod to Mr. Thaksin's continued pull in a country deeply divided between the former leader's populism and the conservatism of the country's old-guard ruling elite.

Mr. Thaksin, who condemned the ruling in a video-link speech to supporters, has instructed his lawyers to examine whether there are any fresh grounds for appeal, which must be submitted within 30 days.

Late Saturday, grenades exploded outside two branches of Bangkok Bank in the capital, causing slight damage and no injuries.

Academics and analysts said the government could use the ruling to justify the 2006 army coup that installed Thailand's military-backed government. But political analysts said the ruling may do little to ease tensions because it is unlikely to satisfy either side.

The government has said that it left the Thaksin matter up to the country's judiciary and that its troop deployment was an attempt to maintain law and order.

The situation could have been worse for Mr. Thaksin, who feared losing the entire $2.3 billion in frozen accounts. The Supreme Court said "to seize all the money would be unfair since some of it was made before Mr. Thaksin became prime minister."

Mr. Thaksin, who fled to Dubai and has been orchestrating political efforts in Thailand from self-exile, could potentially use some of the remaining funds to finance supporters' efforts to win back power in one of Southeast Asia's anchor economies. The 60-year-old Mr. Thaksin told supporters in his video-link speech that he hadn't done anything wrong. He urged them to continue campaigning for democracy. He also said: "If you are in business, don't go into politics or you'll end up like me."

In the aftermath of the 2006 coup, army leaders accused Mr. Thaksin of rampant corruption. Military-appointed officials froze his Thai-based assets, despite the telecom billionaire's popularity in many of Thailand's vote-rich rural areas. It is unclear how much of Mr. Thaksin's wealth remains untouched overseas, or how the government will use the confiscated money.

Friday's ruling underscore the increasingly pivotal role that Thailand's judiciary plays in attempting to resolve the country's bitter political conflicts. In 2006—a few months before the coup—Thailand's constitutional court voided a snap election that returned Mr. Thaksin to power after opposition parties boycotted the vote. In 2008, Thailand's Supreme Court convicted him of conflict of interest in a real-estate deal involving his wife and the central bank, and sentenced him to two years in prison. Mr. Thaksin had by then fled Thailand.

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Mr. Thaksin says the allegations against him are politically motivated. Many of his supporters say his legal problems reflect the sense of injustice felt by many of Thailand's rural poor who have been left behind by the country's economic boom since the 1980s.

"The court has no right to take his money. He was rich before he became prime minister," said Vichaya Kooviboonsin, a 35-year-old government clerk who was among several hundred demonstrators protesting the court case against Mr. Thaksin. "All we're asking for is a fairer society."

Political aAnalysts say Mr. Thaksin skillfully tapped into ordinary Thais' resentments by offering low-cost health care and discounted loans to create the most powerful populist movement the country has seen. He remains the only Thai prime minister to have completed his term in office.

In the days before Friday's court verdict, government officials appeared uneasy about the possibility of violence if the ruling went against Mr. Thaksin. In April 2009, massive antigovernment rallies in Bangkok turned violent after Mr. Thaksin's supporters went on a rampage, hijacking buses and building blazing barricades on many of the city's main roads. Before Friday's court session, Mr. Abhisit ordered the riot-police deployment to prevent any repeat.

On Friday, the demonstrations were sporadic and largely confined to a park near the Supreme Court building. Judges were taken to the courthouse in bulletproof cars.

Late Saturday, hand grenades exploded near two Bangkok Bank branches, causing slight damage and no injuries.

Mr. Thaksin's so-called red-shirt followers—named for their choice of clothing—now say they plan to hold a rally in Bangkok on March 14. Their ability to attract large numbers of supporters could provide an indication of how long Thailand's political conflicts will continue.

Political analysts say the movement is already beginning to evolve beyond its origins as a support group for Mr. Thaksin into an effective grass-roots political movement in its own right. While their interests sometimes intersect with those of Mr. Thaksin, red-shirt leaders such as Jatuporn Prompan say the group, formally known as the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship, aims primarily to limit powerful generals' and bureaucrats' influence on the country's political system.

The Supreme Court ruled that while serving as prime minister, Mr. Thaksin and his former wife, Pojaman na Pombejra, broke the law by concealing their ownership of shares in Shin Corp., the telecommunications company Mr. Thaksin founded.

A judge reading out the ruling also said Mr. Thaksin's government introduced satellite policies that favored a Shin Corp. unit, Thaicom PCL, formerly known as Shin Satellite PCL. Those include a decision to provide a low-cost loan to Myanmar to buy Shin Satellite services. Both Mr. Thaksin and Ms. Pojaman say they legally sold their shares to family members before Mr. Thaksin became prime minister in 2001.

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